Faith Candy: Zim’s own Nicky Minaj

She can easily pass off as American diva Nicki Minaj because of her Minaj look-alike physical posture, but Faith Candy is just a ghetto girl who has managed to work hard and has risen through the ranks to become a popular figure in the cut-throat music industry.

Our CORRESPONDENT

“Because of my body, people always taunt me as Zimbabwe’s own Nick Minaj. However, my physical appearance is natural compared to Minaj and I am really proud of that,” she said.

Born Faith Naphazi, Faith Candy has always had a strong passion for music, even during her school days, which could be traced back to her early days at kindergarten .

“I started singing at a tender age and realised that I had a talent when I was six years old,” she said.

Having realised her talent, she started pursuing a carrer in music which saw her in 1998 gracing the once famous A Stars Talent show and later on participating in the CBZ Academy. The shows gave her direction in her chosen career.

“After I realised I had a passion for music, I started chasing after my dream and this saw me participating in the A Stars and the CBZ Academy,” she said.

“I think these talent shows had an impact on my musical life as it exposed me to huge crowds and also helped me gain confidence.”
With urban grooves hogging the limelight on the local music scene during the 2000s, Faith Candy went on to produce her first single with the late Juda E and Nutty B. This opened doors for the songstress as she went on to record more singles with some top urban grooves artistes who included controversial rapper Maskiri and Extra Large, among others.

However, in 2007 Faith Candy disappeared from the music scene as she focused on her marriage and family. She bounced back in 2012 when she featured in Baba Shupi and Maskiri’s projects.

Later that year she released her debut album titled Runako Rwangu and her second album was released last year.

With the urban grooves genre fading, Faith Candy tried her luck with Zimdancehall and made a name with a track titled Silent Killer which was recorded at Chillspot Studios. She lived up to the billing on her newly-found genre when she released another hit, Wine That Booty, which proved to be a popular hit.

However, Faith Candy did not last long on the dancehall genre as she was identified by Austarlia-based promoter Mabasa “Bazuka” Ziyambi who encouraged her to try a hand in jazz.

She says she feels more comfortable with jazz music and will not pursue any other genre.

“I have cut across different genres, but I think jazz is doing well for me as compared to the other genres that I have done before,” she said.

“I am working well with Bazuka, as evidenced by our first project, Evil Forest, which we did last year.

“The album has been well-received by people and I think jazz is something that I will concentrate on for sometime.”

Faith Candy is looking forward to releasing her second jazz album soon.

Despite enjoying some success in the arts industry, Faith Candy said the industry was infested with “vultures” who would want to manipulate and seek sexual favours from female artists.

She said this has compelled female artistes to leave the industry.

“The biggest challenge that we face as female artistes is that of promoters who seek sexual favours as a condition to promote you,” she said.

Besides music, Faith Candy is a fashion enthusiast and manager at Bazuka Studios.